Directive 8020

I jumped into Directive 8020 wanting the itch that Until Dawn and The Quarry scratched: a tense, choices‑matter horror experience. Right away you get that familiar Supermassive DNA — branching paths, QTEs and moral pressure — but transplanted into tight, claustrophobic spaceship corridors. What surprised me was how often the game genuinely made me doubt teammates I’d only known for twenty minutes. The Turning Points rewind feature eases the sting of bad decisions, and the Deluxe Edition content (soundtrack, artbook, outfit pack) is a nice cherry on the cosmic cake.

Surviving the Cassiopeia — Tense, Tactical, Sometimes Brutal

Directive 8020 puts you inside the crashed colony ship Cassiopeia and makes you live with the consequences of suspicion. Gameplay mixes the classic Supermassive choice moments with real‑time exploration, third‑person stealth and improvised combat. You’ll sneak, run, barricade doors, perform quick actions and sometimes engage in frantic sequences where timing really matters. Two main modes — Explorer (unlimited Turning Points) and Survivor (no rewinds) — let you choose whether to treat the story as a living movie you can nudge around, or a harsh, unforgiving thriller where every click might kill a friend. I found the stealth sections pulled the game in a slightly different direction than previous anthology entries, and I liked that: it makes the horror feel earned.

Turning Points, Collectibles and Deluxe Treats — What Keeps You Replaying

The headline novelty is Turning Points: the in‑game rewind that lets you correct a decision and branch the story without restarting an entire episode. It’s a thoughtful addition that turns replay into deliberate exploration rather than punishment. The Deluxe Edition layers on more hooks — a Digital Artbook, the Jason Graves soundtrack, cinematic filter pack (’60s, ’70s, ’80s looks) and a bonus mission hunting Dark Pictures heirlooms. Those relics tie the game into Supermassive’s universe in a way that fans will enjoy, and the outfit pack is a goofy but welcome cosmetic nod to previous characters. Collectibles and the flowchart of Turning Points encourage multiple runs, and the local couch co‑op option still makes for messy, delightful ’movie night’ chaos.

A Soundtrack and Look That Sell the Mood — Mostly

Visually Directive 8020 is a step up from recent Supermassive titles: improved facial animation, tighter lighting and detailed ship interiors give scenes real weight. The filters can dramatically change the tone — I spent an embarrassing amount of time toggling between grainy 8mm and VHS vibes for maximum dread. Jason Graves’ score and the licensed tracks amplify the creeping dread; sound design is often the game’s strongest hand, with little audio cues that make you check a doorway twice. That said, there are technical gripes: path tracing and ray‑tracing modes are reportedly a mess on some hardware, and a subset of players have seen crashes and severe FPS drops when using advanced lighting. On medium to high settings with RT off the game runs smoothly for me and looks impressive, but expect to tweak settings — especially if you’re chasing that shiny path‑traced dream.

Directive 8020 is an ambitious and often brilliant sci‑fi horror that scratches the Supermassive itch for branching, cinematic terror while taking meaningful risks with stealth and real‑time tension. If you can tolerate the current technical rough edges and don’t need online multiplayer, there’s a lot to love — especially if you enjoy paranoia‑heavy, choice‑driven stories. Wait for a patch if you rely on advanced RT features, otherwise this is worth a buy for horror movie night with a friend on the couch.